A business with many computers pays a considerable amount of money for the electricity to power those computers. Not surprisingly, businesses would like to save as much money as possible by utilizing computers with the ability to use less power. Accordingly, an industry trade group established the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface Specification (ACPI), Revision 2.0, Compaq Computer Corporation, Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Phoenix Technologies Ltd. and Toshiba Corporation, published Jul. 27, 2000, which describes the use of low power states for a computer when it is not in active use.
Another way businesses can save money is by managing their computers remotely across a network. By enabling an administrator to communicate with and control a computer remotely, time and money is often saved by not having to send the administrator to the physical location of the computer. Remote manageability software exists that enables an administrator to place remote devices into a low power state, however, one limitation of such software is that the operating system on the remote device must be in a fully functional and operating state. Other methods of remote device management require the remote device to have additional hardware components that increase the cost of the device.
Accordingly, there exists a need to have a reliable way to remotely place a computing device into a low power state that does not require the operating system to be in a fully functional and operating state, and that does not require additional hardware components be built into the managed device.